


Ben is Blind as a Bat

by Spoodlemonkey



Series: Apartment Au [5]
Category: Fantastic Four (Comicverse)
Genre: Apartment AU, Fluff, M/M, Power Outage, Pre-Slash, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-21
Updated: 2016-06-21
Packaged: 2018-07-16 09:09:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7261846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spoodlemonkey/pseuds/Spoodlemonkey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's a power outage in the apartment, Johnny loses his towel, and thankfully no one needs therapy for life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ben is Blind as a Bat

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bananaandthena](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bananaandthena/gifts).



> Part of my apartment universe, just a quick little thing I started at work and finished at 1:30 am, so it's unbeta'd and if it doesn't make any sense I am so sorry but I had to write something...
> 
> Enjoy!

Ben is halfway through the fifth Die Hard movie when the lights flicker. He casts a wary glance down the hall but it’s quiet- no explosions coming from Reed's room. 

Outside rain is coming down in sheets, blotting out the night sky. He settles deeper into the cushions, reassured for the moment that nothing is going to blow up. Down the hall he can hear the shower running, one of the Storm siblings he assumes, everyone’s in tonight, too wet out to do anything. Ben's all for a little rain but he'd rather avoid getting soaked to the bone. 

A minute later all the lights go out. The television dies halfway through McClane and his son running around getting shot at. He's left in the pitch black.

"Well shit." 

The shower shuts off with some muffled cursing. 

"What the hell did Reed do?" Johnny's voice filters out of the bathroom.

"It wasn't me!" Reed protests. 

Ben spends a moment sitting there, trying to decide if it's worth trying to get up and fumble in the dark for a flashlight or if he should let the others deal with it.

There's a dull *thud* and more muffled cursing. 

He winces, whatever Johnny just hit is going to leave a bruise. 

"I've got candles, give me a minute." Suzie calls. 

Ben levers himself up off the couch and his safe haven, arms in front of him, taking slow, shuffling steps to avoid the coffee table he knows is somewhere by his feet. (It's amazing how during the day he doesn't even need to look to know where it is, but now in the dark he's 100% certain he's going to trip over it.)

He's pretty sure he's made it past the table when he collides with something hard and slippery. 

Hard and slippery shouts in alarm and Ben has a moment to wish he hadn't left the couch, when he takes a step backwards and trips over the _freaking_ coffee table he'd tried so hard to avoid the first time. 

He reaches for the closest object which happens to be hard and slippery, and gravity ends up dragging them both down in a tangle of limbs. He hits his side off the table on the way down, gets a fist to the ear and ends up landing on Johnny.

"You're heavy." Johnny pants as they try to catch their breath.

Ben grunts against Johnny's neck. The kid smells good at least; clean, the scent of soap clinging to his skin, and vanilla?

"You're using Suzie’s shampoo again aren't you?" He mutters, ignoring how Johnny splutters underneath him.

"Is everyone alright?" Suzie comes to the rescue with two candles, Reed at her side holding a third. 

"We're fine." Ben starts to get up as Johnny suddenly grabs his arms in a death grip all but shrieking,

"Don't get up!" 

"What the hell?" 

"My towel slipped." Johnny grits out and in the dim light of the candles Ben can make out his blush spreading across his cheeks.

"Johnny I used to bathe you." He can't see it but he can _hear_ Suzie rolling her eyes.

"I was four!"

"Maybe we should go find those flashlights." Reed quickly suggests. Which is for the best considering it's really starting to sink in that Johnny is *naked* and spread out underneath him. Its bringing _thoughts_ to his head that he needs to get rid of if he's going to stay sane.

He waits until Sue and Reed have wandered off into the relative safety of the kitchen before he pushes himself up. Johnny's hands are still wrapped tightly around his biceps, fingers digging in so Ben hovers there awkwardly, holding himself over the younger man.

"Kid," he forces himself to say, voice gruff. "You gotta let go."

Johnny startles, like he’d forgotten he was all but clinging to Ben, and then releases his hold quickly. He huffs out a laugh as Ben heaves himself up, trying desperately not to look and still getting an eyeful of tanned skin and a hint of paler skin lower down, before Johnny covers himself back up with the towel.

“Personal boundaries.” Johnny mutters, accepting Ben’s hand up. “Sisters have none.”

“You’re just as bad.” Ben rolls his eyes.

“I _never_ want to walk in on her naked. I would need therapy for _life_.” He says it so vehemently it startles a laugh out of Ben.

“What’s so funny?” Suzie chooses this moment to reappear, flashlight in hand. The beam is harsh compared to the soft light of the candle she’d left for them and he winces when she accidentally blinds him with it.

“You’re dangerous with that.” He grouses.

“I’m getting dressed.” Johnny announces to the world, casting a quick glance back at Ben, one he can’t quite decipher, before scooping up a candle and heading for his room.

“Well my evening plans are ruined.” Ben sinks back down onto the couch, poking idly at the bruise he can already feel forming along his side.

“I have a generator hooked up to my projects so at least they won’t be ruined.”

“Got a spare one?” He asks hopefully but Reed shakes his head.

“You boys lack imagination.” Suzie tells them before disappearing down the hall, only to return a moment later with her laptop. “Fully charged and loaded up with movies. And an eight hour battery thanks to Reed.”

Reed most definitely preens at the praise. He’s too far away to tell but Ben would swear he’s blushing.

“Grab the chips Reed.” Suzie slides onto the couch next to him. A moment later Reed joins her and they’re silent as she sets the movie up.

They’re just settling in when Johnny wanders back out dressed in a worn NYU t-shirt a size too big and sweatpants that look like they’d be soft to the touch.

Ben gets to find out how they feel a moment later when Johnny squishes himself into the nonexistent space between Ben and the arm of the couch, draped against his side like he’s meant to be there. Ben tries hard not to get freak out.

“Chips?” Johnny reaches out and Reed, on the other side of Sue, passes them over.

She starts up the movie and ( _incredibly_ unsubtly) maneuvers Reed’s arm until it’s draped over her shoulders and she can lean against him. Reed shoots him a vaguely panicked look but Ben manages a ( _much more_ ) subtle wink.

The evenings not a complete waste, he thinks, Johnny’s body heat seeping through their clothes, into his muscles and helping him relax. He could get used to this, the way Johnny fits against his side. He keeps telling himself it’s a bad idea, don’t get attached to it, it won’t last.

But Johnny keeps glancing his way, his palm hot and heavy on Ben’s knee, fingers curled into the denim of his pants, and part of him thinks, what if it’s not the worst idea ever?

 


End file.
